I adore my online friends. They are some of the best people I’ve ever met, even when I don’t get to see them live. But when I DO get to see them, it’s Nirvana. I know that many of you have experienced this and know it to be true. Most of us spend several hours a week online or at our blogs.

The friendships we make online matter.

I’ve got my pal, Piper Bayard, in town with her Darling Daughter and it’s fantastic. Today we’re going to hit the beach and go whale watching. I’ll be approving all your links and snazzy shout-outs from the boat.

On the way to our respective mattresses…

Now on to the Pimp or Promote!!

Here’s the rules:

I’m taking a page out of Chuck Wendig’s book once again and throwing open the doors of the comments section for the following (he makes people do one of each, just sayin….):

Pimp out somebody else’s work – this can be a favorite author, blogger, post or book you’ve read, a wonderful teacher or just someone who had profound influence on you as a writer or a person.OR

Promote one of your projects that you’re excited about – a hobby, a blog, a book, a new direction your writing is taking you. You decide. Just tell us all about it in the comments! The rest of us will jump in and “ooooh and coo” at you, and likely promote your project even further (because that’s just how we are).

Course time: webinar next Monday March 24th at 7 pm EST – it’s available OnDemand afterwards, so don’t worry if you can’t make it.

The initial webinar is followed by two weeks of online time where we cover the material and create notebooks. We finish with another quick webinar recap.

Use the discount code MORECOWBELL for $10 off!

There are some special things in store for this first class:

A member of the Microsoft OneNote team will be auditing and answering questions about all the new coolness.

A drawing will held to give away a subscription of Office 365.

Any interested authors will be entered into a drawing to be a guest author for the Microsoft Office blog. In return for the description of how OneNote helped you “get it done,” Microsoft will promote the winner’s novel at the bottom of the post. You can’t buy that kind of book publicity, authors…but you have a chance for it with this class.

38 Responses to Ring Your Cowbell: It’s Time for ‘Pimp and Promote!’

SO jealous that you get to spend time with the fab Piper Bayard! I’m sure you all are having a fab time.

I’d like to promote Myndi Shafer’s wonderful book: Hanna, Hanna, One-and-Two. Here’s the blurb:
Twenty-two year old Johanna Cochrin has spent the past six years in self-imposed silence. After witnessing her brother’s murder, she vowed to take his secret to the grave – even if that meant living the rest of her life as a prisoner in a remote government compound.

But when she is kidnapped from that compound, Johanna finds her silence difficult to maintain. With the ruthless dictator of a fragile government plotting to sacrifice her to a time-altering Device, she is forced to trust people she has never met, share secrets she never meant to share, and come to terms with her own mortality – all while trying to save the world.

Well, you promoted me big-time when I guest posted here, so that’s why I didn’t include it at first. But hey, I’d be happy to! My big news is that the second book in the Concordia Wells mystery series is now out. The series is set in a fictitious women’s college (modeled after the 7 Sisters colleges of the time) in 1890s Hartford, CT. Literature professor Concordia Wells finds herself up to more amateur sleuthing, and gets into all sorts of trouble with a Lady Principal who’s nicknamed “the Ogre.” 🙂

To toot Myndi’s horn some more, her post about life’s low points inspired me to write one for today. I appreciated all the WANA comments in Myndi’s post and it’s nice to know I’m not alone when dealing with the crud.

I have to give a shout to the person who showed me how amazing writing words can be: Jo Ann Beard, one of my professor’s when I was at the University of Iowa. Her books include The Boys of My Youth (memoir) http://tinyurl.com/p8pk4td and In Zanesville http://tinyurl.com/qewoyn4. Unfortunately I don’t think she one for social media so she may never see this. But it feels good to say it anyway.

“Promote” will be coming soon…just feeling more like a giver than a getter right now.

And here is my promo: Only thing I’ve had published, so far, but I’m really proud of it. Long time coming: http://lunchticket.org/the-call/. I’ll be writing a blog post about it and other related items in the future. But feel free to run on over to my blog any time–fun to be had for all! http://kellyrobertswriting.com

Today, I get a “two for” (or a two-four – Canadian for a case of beer?).
My pimp and my promote are the same thing.
The Pimp: Over on Google+, there’s this community called M2the5th (Mostly multicultural, mysteries, memoir, and myth – https://plus.google.com/communities/116063206447518159083?hl=en-GB&partnerid=gplp0 ) and March has been Roz Morris Month 🙂 We’ve been spotlighting Roz’s blog posts, books, interviews, and anything else we can get our hands on. The culmination of the month will be a Twitterview on Saturday, March 29th at 2 pm EDST (6 pm, BST to make it reasonable for Roz to attend) using the #mto5 hashtag.
The promote:
Why did I pimp this? I’m a moderator for the M2the5th communty, and I’ll be hosting the Twitterview (eeps!). It will only be my second hosting gig, so I’m a bit nervous, especially since I really like (actually lurve) Roz and her work and I really want this to go well for her. The “green room” will be open just prior to the event for meeting and greeting, because once the hour hits, the questions start flying and it’s kind of like a Reddit AMA. We pre-program the tweets for the major questions and resources, but the floor will be completely open to all comers, as the saying goes 😉 M2th5th owner, and resident Storify expert Lori Sailiata will edit and tame the beast. She posts the Storify after the fact for additional promotional opportunities.
Even if you aren’t interested in joining the community, I’d encourage you to join the Twitterview on the 29th. It’s going to be all kinds of fun.
And Roz is just brilliant.

Thanks for the chance to promote! I appreciate it! I’m thrilled that my novel COMMUNITY SERVICE (written as Dakota Madison) has been nominated for a 2014 RONE AWARD in the NEW ADULT category. It’s a very competitive award and I’m up against some incredible authors.
If you could spare a few minutes to vote for my book, I’d greatly appreciate it!

If you’re looking for an outlet for your writing, would like to make some pocket change, but don’t want it to become your life, you might check out the Yahoo Contributor Network. The gigs are about 400 words each. Some are pay per view, but others will give you an upfront payment. I just stuck my toe in the water and scored a $14 upfront payment right off the bat. That may not sound like a lot, but think about how many words you’ve been willing to give away for free. Here’s the link to my profile (http://contributor.yahoo.com/user//janesadek), but it will lead to where you sign up.

So cool that you are offering up your blog to do this Jenny. It is good to give back.

To pimp – There are so many I could name here but I guess only one is allowed so I’d like to promote a blog I have been following by Aussa Lorens – Hacker. Ninja. Hooker. Spy.

Her viewpoints and true life experiences when it comes to dating, sex, and life in general are worth a good read. Plus, she is also funny. Her series of posts on a former creep boyfriend she beat in court are pretty awesome.

To promote – I guess the one thing that stands out for me now is my participation in a Tough Mudder coming up on July 12. I am now starting to train for it after a few down weeks of family illnesses and my own stomach bug. I’m also running it for charity – the Wounded Warrior Project.

Hey Jenny, this is a great idea. Of course, I will always pimp Laura Drake and her Sweet on Cowboy Series, but for this occasion I’d like to highlight my oldest blog buddy, Christi Corbett and her new sweet romance, published through Astraea Press, ALONG THE WAY HOME:

Kate Davis is intrigued when her father reveals his dream of starting a horse ranch in Oregon Territory. Settlers out west value a strong woman, and though she manages the financials of her father’s mercantile her competence earns her ridicule, not respect, from Virginia’s elite society.

Jake Fitzpatrick, an experienced trail guide, wants land out west to raise cattle and crops. But dreams require money and he’s eating dandelion greens for dinner. So when a wealthy businessman offers double wages to guide his family across the Oregon Trail, Jake accepts with one stipulation–he is in complete control.

Departure day finds Kate clinging to her possessions as Jake demands she abandon all he deems frivolous, including her deceased mother’s heirlooms. Jake stands firm, refusing to let the whims of a headstrong woman jeopardize the wages he so desperately needs–even a beautiful one with fiery green eyes and a temper to match.

Trail life is a battle of wills between them until tragedy strikes, leaving Jake with an honor-bound promise to protect her from harm and Kate with a monumental choice–go back to everything she’s ever known or toward everything she’s ever wanted?
****

Thanks to Jane for the info on The Yahoo Contributor Network !!!

Instead of highlighting my writing, WIP, submission process or my amazing blog … I”d like to promote both of my Etsy stores since I love both my crafts and collectible inventory. The intro on the crafts shop has the link for the collectibles: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CottageCraft4u.

Okay so my vote for “other” would be Kelly Robert’s story in Lunch Ticket. She posted it today, and it’s clearly a very personal and difficult story to tell, but one that has a powerful message and I think she should get some love and support in her efforts and being brave to share. Here’s the linky:

If you like a wee bit of kidnapping, arson, grand-theft auto, and just a smidge of unintentional nudity, this one’s for you. Kate’s a mess, but at least you’ll feel better about your life when you read her story. 😉

Thank you Jenny for allowing us to PP on your page. Not many would. I promise to be quick.

Juli Page Morgan has 3 books out and right now her second book, Athena’s Daughter is only .99cents. Purchase here: julipagemorgan.com/buy-the-books/

Two of Juli’s books have been nominated for RONE Awards with, InD’Tale Magazine. If you wish to help her out by voting you register at the site or vote by sending an email to anasmith@indtale.com. In the Subject line put RONE Awards Vote. In the body of the email just tell them you’re casting a vote in the Contemporary: Artists & Writers category (it’s VERY important you include that), and that you’re voting for Athena’s Daughter by Juli Page Morgan. And you’re done!

Happy to pimp Melinda VanLone’s Stronger Than Magic, an urban fantasy novel I recently finished. It’s definitely one of the best debut novels I’ve read, and I’m eager for her sequel to come out this spring!

As to promoting…I’ll get back to you on your next round of P&P. Looking forward to some short story releases this year. 🙂

Hi, Jenny. I see that you write stories. I’m writer with several indie published books. My latest projects include compiling collections of stories from (hopefully) 10-20 writers each into two anthologies, one is fiction for mystery, suspense, thriller, and action-type stories, the other is non-fiction humorous, inspiring, positive slice-of-life-type stories. I’d love to consider some of your applicable stories for these analogies. Please contact me at russtowne@yahoo.com if you would like to learn more about what I have in mind. I’d also love it if you’d let other writers and aspiring writers know about these opportunities.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Russ Towne

So my Pimp is a wonderful book by a friend of mine called The Hallowed. L. Marrick is wonderful at building characters and weaving an interesting story. The emotion seeps in without feeling forced and fits the characters and situation well. LOVED THIS BOOK!